In the first split LCK playoffs, the losers' bracket matches have already begun. On the previous match day, DRX faced DNS in a BO5 series. Both teams showed dark horse strength in the later part of the regular season. DRX’s performance was slightly weaker than DNS’s on the stage. The final result was unsurprising: DNS defeated DRX 3-1 to advance to the second round. With two consecutive losses, DRX became the first team eliminated in the playoffs.

This BO5 was both thrilling and intense. In the first game, both teams farmed peacefully until 11 minutes when a river fight broke out. Ucal’s Azir paid tribute to Faker’s style, with chaotic teamfight entries leading to multiple deaths. After continuous teamfight collapses, DRX snowballed and ended the game with a 14k gold lead. In the second game, DRX’s bot lane gained early advantage, but mid lane was pressured heavily. Ucal gave up his teleport, making his ignite-carrying Sylas ineffective.

Because the mid-laner lacked teleport, he couldn’t arrive at fights promptly during the split-pushing phase. DRX didn’t dare to initiate fights either. After some back-and-forth, DNS secured a lead over 10k gold and took the match point. The third game was the most interesting, arguably the most "genuine" match in the LCK. At 12 minutes, DNS led 5-1 in kills and had a 1.3k gold advantage. Under normal circumstances, this game should have been theirs, but the players made some critical mistakes.

After DRX’s bot lane was crushed early, Pyosik didn’t prioritize dragon control. By 11 minutes, DRX had already taken two small dragons. The ocean drake was lost due to an overextension by the top laner, and DNS hesitated to engage. In the final dragon soul fight, although all players were present, DNS lost the teamfight. DRX secured the dragon soul and Baron, completing a comeback. Despite bot lane advantage, DNS failed to secure dragons and kept losing teamfights despite their gold lead. Their performance was utterly uncharacteristic.

The deciding game was the most puzzling. DRX could have forced a fifth game, but Ucal suddenly threw the match with a costly mistake, directly handing the game away. DNS gained early advantage, but lost mid-game teamfights and fell behind economically. In the late game, DRX couldn’t win teamfights again, allowing DNS to claim the dragon soul. In the crucial Baron fight, DRX found an opportunity to kill the support, creating a 5v4 scenario. With Baron pressure, they should have won, but Ucal suddenly lost control.

He used his mark card aggressively on the enemy’s two carries to speed things up and even used it on an explosive plant, but ended up gifting kills to the opponents. After the mid-laner died, the rest of DRX panicked, chasing recklessly and getting pulled apart. Ultimately, DRX was outnumbered 5v4 but lost a 1-for-5 trade, and their base was pushed down in one swift move. If Ucal hadn’t thrown and played steadily, DRX probably could have won the fourth game. To put it bluntly, he didn’t even know how to take an easy win.

Summarizing Ucal’s performance in this BO5: chaotic Azir throws kills, ignite Sylas fails to sustain, and his Twisted Fate game ended in a team wipe. Except for a slightly better performance on Taliyah in the third game, he was the team’s “culprit” in the other three games. Among the four players who returned from the LPL this year, Peyz and Scout had some mistakes but also showed good moments. Ucal and Kanavi, however, were disastrous and the main weak points throughout the split. Truly baffling.

While in the LPL, Ucal was often inconsistent, and after returning, he still failed to shine—one could say he remained fundamentally unreliable. After DNS’s victory over DRX, their next match is against DK. If they win again, they will compete with T1 for a spot in the losers’ bracket final. However, DK is much stronger than DRX, so Xu Ge probably won’t lose, but with DK’s recent poor form, nothing is certain.

In conclusion:

Among the “four returning players” in the LCK, only Peyz remains active in the playoffs. After T1’s shocking loss to BFX in the previous match, they have been training even through the Lunar New Year. Peyz should be able to uphold the last shred of dignity for the returning players. DNS has now become a dark horse team, and it remains to be seen if they can keep surprising everyone moving forward.

So, who do you think is the weakest among the four returning players?

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